Europe's Gluttony Olympics: Fattest, Laziest, Drunkest

Forget Citius, Altius, Fortius ("Faster, Higher, Stronger"), the real Olympic challenge among Europe's nations is Pinguissimam, Ignavissumi, Bibe Maxime (Fattest, Laziest, Drunkest). As WaPo notes, there's nothing like tales of butter-eating, wine-guzzling, yet somehow-still thin Europeans to add to American angst over holiday calories and upcoming resolutions, but while overall, Europeans are fairly healthy, a recently-released report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (below) found that the prevalence of diseases such as diabetes and asthma has also increased — in part because of better diagnosis, but also thanks to underlying causes such as drinking, smoking and eating fattening foods. Here’s a look at which Europeans are most obese, most inactive and drink most (no, it's not the Brits):

Despite common perceptions that the French sip wine all day or that Scandinavians muddle through the long winters with the aid of aquavit, Luxembourg actually tops the list of Europe’s alcohol consumers, with nearly 15.3 liters bought per capita annually — a 12 percent increase since 1980. (The OECD points out, however, that foreigners actually purchase much of that because of Luxembourg’s lower-than-average alcohol taxes.) Not counting Luxembourg, Latvia and Romania top the charts of alcohol consumption among adults:

Meanwhile, the supposed dolce vita of the Italians has become more temperate. They’ve reduced their alcohol consumption by nearly 60 percent since 1980, to a modest 6.9 liters.

And even though higher taxes and more rigid advertising laws have caused alcohol consumption in the E.U. to decline by 15 percent since 1980, the region still has the highest level of alcohol consumption in the world, and alcohol is the third leading risk factor for disease there, after tobacco and high blood pressure.

The problem is that as parts of Europe sober up, other countries have been drinking more — and new types — of alcohol:

There has been a degree of convergence in drinking habits across the European Union, with wine consumption increasing in many traditional beer-drinking countries and vice versa.

Obesity:

The rate of obesity has doubled over the past 20 years in the E.U., to 17 percent, making it a “major public health concern,” the authors write. Hungarians are the most obese people in the E.U., at 28.5 percent, closely followed by Britain.

Hungary’s neighbors, the Romanians, are the most svelte:

The authors note the use of taxes on fat and sugar — such as those recently passed in Finland, France and Hungary — as potential solutions. However, one such measure in Denmark was recently repealed after it was found to have too detrimental of an impact on consumers and businesses.

Physical activity:

Overall, only one in five children in the E.U. member states say they exercise regularly. The study didn’t measure physical activity among adults, but if sedentary children become pudgy grown-ups, the Italians are in trouble. Just 7 percent of girls and 12 percent of boys there reported daily physical activity, while the Austrians were most active:

Unfortunately, the conclusion for Luxembourg is not correct, as correctly pointed out in the article.

The population of Luxembourg does not drink that much more alcohol than its neighbours. That large number comes from the fact that Luxembourg has much lower TAX for alcoholic beverages than its immediate neighbouring countries. Being on the crossroads between Germany, France and Belgium, there's a massive economy here to sell gas, booze and cigarettes to the travellers passing through.

Hence those ridiculously high numbers, if you also take into consideration that the total population of Luxembourg is just half a million.

PS: Speaking of Greece, do we REALLY still have to continue indulging this nonsense about "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia"? I've got news for you petulant Greeks: the country on your northern border IS Macedonia, all your childish, misguided nationalistic tantrums to the contrary notwithstanding. Get over yourselves.

wine and olive oil; both in moderation with lots of omega rich spices, fruit and vegetables; something the northern countries do not tradition in.

As for the Euro it was not made to be a serf's ring per se; but it has become 'cos those banks have been let out of PAndora's box. The pox of pax americana construct to buy all that imported oil on credit, then to make i-pads cheap.

"the euro as a serf ring" or "the euro as a destruction machine" goes always back to two things, one seen and one unseen

unseen: what would have happened in the last years without the euro?

A) either a currency grid like last time

OR

B) a "competitive devaluation" orgy

seen: C) the euro is being devalued slowly, and it's behaving like any hard currency (like gold, but not that hard) in the less profitable parts of the eurozone - which means the "periphery" is hurting more (though profitable business in the periphery is ok)

so C) is not that different from A) and the only thing I can ask is: would you have preferred B)?

And the answer to that depends from your financial and geographic position

Any City of London banker would have vastly preferred B), of course, and the FED too

It is to the extent that the only time my wife and my side of the family get along is when they are conspiring about me. My wife's family is russian. They live in South Jersey and outside of philly. When we go there they just yell in russian while I drink a beer and watch sports.

Jesus Christ I am Ray Romano......I never looked at it that way. This changes everything.

That makes two of us. That's why I find the show so funny. Sometimes when my wife is yelling at me I burst out laughing because she sounds like Ray's wife. That of course gets me in more trouble, but it's worth it.

Russian Jew. My wifes grandmother was one of the real life characters in that movie "Defiance". Badass people. I respect them. I am drinking a glass of wine and staring at my "Channukah Bush" as we speak....and all along I thought it was a Christmas tree....

"Threaten yourself"?? You sure you don't have some Albanian in the mix somewhere? Nothing in the world like watching an Albanian working him/herself into a frothing rage. Like Daffy Duck on PCP. "I'll kick my ass!! And slaughter your entire family!!"

Great...i remember reading the AsiaTimes back in the 1990s...always had nifty financial statistics and some more...like calories consumed by country. I always wished Germany, Russia and the USA would overtake the UAE and Belgium, but they never did.

I have no idea how you game it. The dollar weakens at the thought of spending cuts and tax hikes kicking in. If they agree to some BS deal and avoid spending cuts the dollar will strengthen when it should weaken. Gold has been weakening heading into QE4 even as the dollar weakens. The Euro is rising and periphery yields are dropping even as the eurozone implodes. I must think way too macro because I would not know which way to bet even if you gave me the answers to the test.

If this is neat alcohol, then we're looking at 300ml per week, which really isn't a lot at all! A decent red contains about 15% alcohol, so that's the equivalent of about 2.8 700ml bottles per person per week.

Most colleagues get through two LARGE glasses EVERY End of Shift (just to "settle the nerves"!), so we're looking at 400ml per DAY = 2.4 litres per week (or 3 and 1/2 standard bottles) plus whatever we guzzle during our days off. Say the equivalent of 4 standard bottles per person, per week total, = 420mL total alcohol.

Welcome to the reality of front-line Australian Healthcare - the staff are all permanently sozzled (helps to reduce anxiety and stress levels - following OH&S Guidelines to promote a "Healthier sic. Working Environment" don't you know!)

A liter of wine has about 0.1 liters of alcohol, so 15 liters of alcohol corresponds to 150 liters (200 bottles) of wine a year, or 300 liters (600 pints) of beer a year. You are right. That really isn't all that much. Especially since young children are allowed to drink alcohol in Europe, and a per-capita measure averages over both drinking adults and non-drinking persons.

i went to several schools growing up and there were typically 1-2 poor fugly people in each grade. Most of the kids were pretty, really. I don't know what happened. But it has more to do with what Americans are being provided to survive and grow than they as a people. Consumerism, self absorption and dull educational system which does not inspire curiosity and passion has left them with broken spirits and a loss of identity. Americans forget who they are. It's coming soo to a country you live it. It's a protocol: How to Take Over A Country Without Even Trying